


The Panther and the Hummingbird

by Thenerdintheredsweater



Category: Original Work
Genre: Folklore, Hummingbird - Freeform, Original work - Freeform, legend, myth, panther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 11:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10615758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thenerdintheredsweater/pseuds/Thenerdintheredsweater
Summary: A tale of two lovers much too different to be together, yet too similar to stray apart.





	

There once lived a ninja of great renown, known as the strongest and most feared warrior throughout the land. He was often hired by nobles and the like as an assassin, chosen to complete the most dangerous and daunting tasks.

One such day, he was asked to remove a young maiden of royal descent from the picture of the future royal line. They offered to pay well, so the ninja accepted the offer. He travelled across the nation to reach the home of the maiden, watching her from afar to discern the best time to strike.

The maiden was delicate, holding a love for nature and spending most of her time alone in her flower garden humming songs of growth and care to the plants she treasured so. The ninja slowly grew fond of the maiden, delaying his strike in favor of watching her. He watched and protected her for nearly a year before summoning the courage to reveal himself to her one spring day.

The ninja silently crept into her garden, placing himself under a cherry tree in full bloom. She entered the garden nearly two hours later, already humming to herself. Her expression turned to one of surprise when she saw the ninja, and her voice filled with awe as she spoke.

“I know you,” she said softly, “you are the ninja that is feared throughout the land. Why have you come here?”

“I was sent nearly a year ago, dear maiden, to kill you. Since then, however, I have seen your beauty and the love you have for nature itself. I have seen that you do not deserve the fate they wish upon you. My lady, will you join me in my quest to leave this place and find the true meaning of love?”

The maiden agreed and took the ninja to meet her father. She explained his love for her, and that she had admired him through the tales she had heard through others. Her father did not approve, however, and ordered that the ninja be sentenced to death. The ninja was a man of night, he said, and his daughter a creature of day. He was darkness and lies, she was light and truth. The maiden protested, but her father insisted that they could not be together. The ninja was imprisoned in their home where he would wait to be executed, but the maiden would not allow that to happen. She freed him in the middle of the night and the two ran off together, hoping to escape those that tried to separate them.

The ninja and the maiden were chased throughout the land until they reached a temple on top of a snowy mountain. The two prayed and begged any god that would listen to help them and allow them to be together in peace. The gods looked into a possible future where the two were together and saw many problems in the land; war and famine being the most probable outcomes. They declined the pair’s request, and the two despaired. They remained in the temple for as long as it took for the troops chasing them to reach them. The ninja held the maiden in his arms and gently kissed her, telling her that he would see her again in the next life. She cried into his shoulder, refusing to let go of him. She told him of her love for him and promised to find him again despite their differences. The troops had their archers draw their arrows back, and the ninja and the maiden were killed as they kissed one final time.

Their love was too strong to die so easily, however. They say that months later, a young panther cub and a small hummingbird could always be seen outside the temple where the maiden and the ninja were killed. The hummingbird and the panther became a symbol of love in that temple and were considered sacred despite their differences. To this day, one will often pray to the spirits of the panther and the hummingbird that they may find a love as strong and as true as that of the ninja and the maiden of the mountain temple.


End file.
